


Homecoming

by hulklinging



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sports, Drinking, Exy, F/M, Ghost Wisdom, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi, Panic Attacks, Scars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 18:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6340069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hulklinging/pseuds/hulklinging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes a home is not a 'where' but a 'who'. Neil Josten understand this. So does the new player they're trying to sign.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Neil and Noah

**Author's Note:**

> I really couldn't help myself I'm so sorry I sat down and it just HAPPENED.  
> I'll probably write more about this because I obviously can't help myself.

There’s about a million ways it could happen. This time, it happens like this.

Neil ran again. Not far, and he texts Andrew once he gets there. ‘There’ isn’t really anywhere, except that he’s alone in the middle of the woods and he finally feels like he can breathe again.

Sometimes things just get too tight around him, and when he blinks he feels like he’s back in that trunk, limbs that promise a slow death wrapped around him as he suffocates. Claustrophobia is totally normal, says Bee, but he’s still no good at talking to her, and as long as he comes back Andrew understands the running, now.

So he’s in this patch of woods. And they’re strange, but he doesn’t realize until he’s in the thick of them. They’re too warm for this time of year and his thin black shirt. He was shivering on the way here, but somewhere along the line he’s stopped. It feels like summer, which should be impossible.

He’s still trying to wrap his head around the temperature when he realizes there’s a boy sitting next to him. He flinches away, scrambling to his feet, but the boy doesn’t move, just watches him as he struggles to put space between himself and the stranger.

“Hello,” says the boy, in a soft voice. Everything about the boy is soft, soft edges and soft eyes and he wouldn’t even register as a threat to Neil except that he somehow managed to sneak up on him. “You’re new here.”

Neil’s fingers are shaking for a whole different reason, as he pulls out a cigarette and a lighter. The smell grounds him, even now, when he’s as far away from a beach as possible. The boy turns to look forward, away from Neil, and for a moment his face looks more like a skull. There might be a car in the brambles behind the boy, but Neil doesn’t want to look. He doesn’t want to know.

He thinks he might be hallucinating.

“We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere,” Neil says, like he’s not talking to himself. “Everyone’s new here.”

“I’m not,” says the boy, with a small smile. Neil knows lies because they often feel like looking in the mirror, but there’s no lie on the boy’s face. “I’ve been here a very long time.”

Neil doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything, just busies himself with the cigarette he has no intention of smoking. He’s about ready to head back to the hotel now anyway. Why did he agree to come on this stupid recruitment trip anyway? Wymack and Kevin are enough without him. They’re champions. This should be easy.

“I recognize your face.”

Neil’s laugh sounds a lot like panic. “I get that a lot.” Too much. Another thing that makes him want to run.

The boy’s standing next to him, hand stretched out just shy of his ruined cheek. It’s healed now, but it’s still an ugly patch of scar tissue that carries a lot of stares any time he ventures out, now. Neil doesn’t flinch this time, although his breathing grows shallow. For a second, the smoke from his cigarette seems to go _through_  the boy, like he’s made of sunbeams or mist. Like how sometimes shadows move in the corner of your vision.

When he twists to keep the boy in front of him, he’s solid lines again. It’s this forest, is all. The light filters through the branches strange here, is all.

“He’ll say no. Lynch.”

Lynch is a name Neil recognizes. It’s the name of the guy they’re trying to sign. His focus sharpens with something Exy-related to focus on.

“You know him?”

A shy smile. “He’s a friend.”

They really need Lynch. He was their top pick for their backline. Neil wants to watch him play with Matt, wants to try to get past him himself. They have other options, but Kevin and Neil both picked Lynch. He doesn’t want to look at their other options.

“Why is he going to say no?”

“He’s scared of leaving home. Home’s important to him.” Neil doesn’t like this boy’s eyes, because he feels like he can see everything, the outline of the key on his palm, every name he’s ever called himself. “I think you’ll like him, if you can manage to stop arguing long enough to realize it.”

Lynch also came with an attitude, but they’re Foxes. Of course he does.

“My home’s not a place,” he finds himself admitting, almost against his will. He feels a little emptier, with those words in the air between them, but the urge to run has vanished.

“Neither is his.” The boy is beaming at Neil now. “I knew you would get it. Thanks for listening.” He starts to walk away, and already he’s hard to see. Maybe it’s just because it’s getting dark, this far into the forest night can come early, after all. “It was nice to meet you, Neil!”

“What the fuck,” says Neil, but no one’s listening. With one last glance in the direction the boy disappeared, he heads back. Home is waiting, after all.

(They sign a few extras, but they get Lynch, and Parrish and Gansey and Sargent are interesting in their own right. Kevin grumbles about more dead weight, but Neil knows him well enough to know he can’t wait to get them all on the court, recognizes that look in his eye. He’s sure it’s mirrored in his own)


	2. Ronan and Renee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strangers meet on a common ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be somewhere between a story and a series of little meetings and drabbles. Not sure how plot-heavy it will be, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

"Oh. I didn't know anyone was in here."

It's a Friday afternoon in early June, so it's an understandable assumption. After all, only the summer semester students are on campus. It's still early even for the athletes, and this small chapel is more out of the way than the students usually bother with.

So when Renee turns to smile at the boy who has interrupted her, and recognizes his face, she takes it as a good sign.

"It's alright." She doesn't stand up, because she knows that look in his eyes, that anger and that instinct to hit and run. She just nods at him. "You're Ronan Lynch."

"Yeah. And you're the... what, stalker? Welcome committee?"

"Renee Walker," she offers instead. "We'll be teammates this year." They're officially supposed to all arrive tomorrow, but after the last season Renee needed a day to herself. A moment of silence before her last year here begins. A bookend, because here in this church was where she spent her first night here, praying that she could truly learn who Renee was, in this new place, this second chance.

And she did.

Ronan makes a grunt that Renee takes as acknowledgement. She's a little surprised he didn't recognize her. She's no Neil Josten or Kevin Day, but the whole team got more than enough news time over the last season that anyone who followed college Exy would have seen a lot of her face. Maybe it's the lights in the church. Or maybe it's that this boy signed to a team and didn't care enough to look at who he'd be playing with.

She tucks this thought away into a little mental folder of what she knows about her freshmen. There's not much in there yet, but this is a start.

She doesn't try to engage with him, not here, not when he's still getting his bearings. He chooses a seat behind her and to the left, and she can feel his eyes on her as she bows her head and prays for a good final year. She also prays for the boy watching her, and the friends that followed him here. She prays that this shipwreck of a boy finds a home at the Court. He looks like he needs a safe port, a lighthouse to get there.

When she stands, the movement is echoed, to her surprise. By the time she reaches the door, he's there waiting for her.

"You don't have to leave just because I am."

He shrugs, more shoulder blades than shoulders. A bird shrug. He looks rather birdlike, silhouetted against the setting sun. Renee spends a moment wondering what kind of bird he would be. When her brain immediately supplies 'raven', she drops that train of thought immediately.

"Are your friends here already, too?"

Neutral talk, just her making conversation as they make their way across campus. She can see Fox Tower, alone on its hill, and she can't help but smile. This place has been good to her.

Ronan nods, and something... gives, in his face. Something softens, as he thinks about his friends.

 _Ah,_ she thinks. _There it is. His lighthouse._

"Gansey insisted we get here early, so we don't embarrass ourselves. Of course, it's Gansey, so that's pretty much a given."

Sharp words, to hide the softness. Renee smiles. Ronan has a hard shell, but what she sees leaking from beneath it makes her think he will fit in quite well here. She thinks it will be a good place for him, and perhaps he will be good for them as well.

"The Foxes aren't exactly known for their poise and professionalism. I'm sure you'll all do fine."

"So I've heard," he says, more to himself than to her.

"Lynch!"

Four figures stood by the doors to the tower. The tallest of them was waving them down, and as they got closer Ronan did a rude gesture in reply.

"Were you looking for me? Idiots. I told you I was going out."

The palest of the boys shot Renee a big smile. She doesn't know him like she knows the others, and looking at him is strange, like he's not quite in the moment.

"I like your hair!"

"Thank you," she says, and notices how when she looks away from him to take in the others, he seems to go fuzzy in her peripheral. "Ronan was just walking me back from the church. I'm Renee. It's nice to meet you."

"Gansey," says the one in the turquoise polo shirt, and his voice is sure and warm, with a touch of age unusual for a boy his age. He shakes her hand, and keeps his eyes on her face. "Nice to meet you as well. You're the goalkeeper." There's something grand about it all, his voice, the handshake. Richard Gansey III, only son of politicians and old money. A surprisingly clean family too. She was surprised to hear of his recruitment, since he seems to break the mould of what a Fox could be. But of course so did she, at first glance. He's also obviously done his research.

"One of them, yes. You'll meet the other one tomorrow, I'm sure."

There's no fear or judgement in Gansey's eyes at the mention of Andrew, only a bright curiosity, which is another tick in his favour. The boy to his right, sandy brown hair and a splattering of freckles, does shift his weight a little, although whether the suspicion in his eyes is because of the mention of one of their more infamously unstable teammates, or just how he greets strangers in general, she's not sure.

She does notice how when Ronan joins the four, they arrange themselves so that they are all around Gansey, bodies angled to him seemingly on instinct. She wants to know what happened, to inspire that protectiveness in these five. She hopes she gets to hear that story, over the next year. She won't pry, though. She'll leave that to some of her... less polite teammates.

The suspicious boy introduced himself as Adam (Parrish, who would probably join the front line, along with the only girl of their group, Blue. A whimsical name for a surprisingly down to earth girl, who was not much taller than the twins, but looked like she could be just as much of a handful), and the strange boy she doesn't know just gives his first name and a smile.

She leaves after the introductions are through, because they'll see enough of each other come tomorrow, when the rest of the team came in. Practices were due to start the day after that, and then they wouldn't be able to get away from each other. She's sure the five will want to have one more night to just be the five of them, and she has her own preparations to make before tomorrow, too.

She goes to bed looking forward to the new season more so than ever. She wants to get back on the Court, finish her time here strong. She wants to watch the team grow together again, wants to watch this raven boy and his friends become Foxes. She brushes fingers over the cross around her neck, closes her eyes, and sends out a thank you for still being here, for the safety of her friends, and a quick prayer for that to continue on into the new year.

In a room down the hall, in his own way, Ronan Lynch does the same.


	3. Adam and Matt

Adam stares at the bedroom in front of him, and tells himself that it will be okay.

Really, his shared dorm at Fox Tower is probably bigger than the trailer he grew up in. Definitely bigger than his room above the church. And much nicer. His reservations are all centred around the 'shared' part.

"Do you need help bringing your stuff up?"

Adam turns around to be met with the smiling presence of Matt Boyd. One of his roommates, now. The guy seems nice enough, but Adam doesn't know him.

"No,"he says, forcing his shoulders to relax. "I have-"

"Christ, Parrish," comes a rough voice from outside the dorm door. "Just because you can fit all of your worldly possessions into one box doesn't mean you should."

"-help," finishes Adam unnecessarily.

Matt is already headed to the door. Adam lets him, because they'll have to all get used to Ronan sooner or later. Also, it's not all of his worldly possessions. There's the stuff in his backpack, and the few boxes tucked away in one of the guest rooms at the Barns.

"Ass," he mutters. He can't hold back his smile as he says it, though. Because here he is. Adam Parrish. At college, on a scholarship. And somehow, against all odds, Ronan Lynch is here too.

Matt's loud laugh gets him moving again, and he steps out of the bedroom and back into the living room space. Matt looks relaxed, almost comically so next to Ronan, who has put the box down in favour of crossing his arms over his chest. He's sizing up their new teammate, and Matt lets him.

"You'll be on my line," he's saying. "We're glad to have you, man. Kevin was really excited by your tapes, which says a lot."

Kevin Day. Striker. Adam's watched him play, read up on his injury and dramatic return to the court. He's not sure how he'll get along with the guy (and he's honestly a little apprehensive of how Ronan and him will get along, if their brief meeting when they came courting him is anything to go by), but he's a phenomenal player, which is the most important thing, Adam supposes.

He's not sure if Ronan is really listening to what Matt's saying at all. His dark gaze seems to have gotten stuck on Matt's bare arms, and the scarring there he's made no effort to hide.

"You still do that shit?"

Adam frowns at Ronan's completely tactless approach, but Matt seems to have been expecting the question.

"Do you think I'd be showing these off if I did?" He nods at Ronan's own bare arms, the scars running up them. "Looks like you get that."

"It's not the same." Ronan's tone is biting, and it might be about time for Adam to interfere, but he's watching the exchange and imagining the two of them on the court together and he can't help but look forward to seeing it for real. If Matt carries this carefree power onto the court with him, it will balance out Ronan's intensity quite nicely.

Adam isn't here for Exy. For him, Exy is a means to an end, and of course he'll give it his best, but he honestly doesn't expect to play much, and hasn't been putting too much thought into the team as a whole. For the first time, he finds himself getting excited over the idea of watching his friends on the court with their new teammates.

Ronan's tired of the standoff, apparently, because he frowns and steps backwards, ready to storm out without another word, but Mattdoesn't seem interested in letting that happen without a final word.

"Hey, Lynch?"

Ronan stops, but doesn't turn.

"This team... everyone's got scars, but not everyone's as open about them as you or I. And a few of them really won't take kindly to you asking.So be careful, okay?"

Adam doesn't even need to see Ronan's face to know that he's rolling his eyes.

"Sure, whatever."

This time, when he goes to leave, Matt lets him, although the boy's easy smile is gone. In its place is a level of concern that surprises Adam, because surely Matt doesn't care enough about them yet to warrant that.

"His bark is worse than his bite," Adam says quickly, because Matt was probably just worried that Ronan was going to start shit with his teammates or something.

Matt seems to rouse himself from his thoughts, and his smile is back in place when he looks up at Adam. "I've been with the Foxes too long to be bothered by that, Parrish, don't worry. He reminds me of an old teammate a bit, actually." Matt stands up and stretches, and Adam gets just a little bit distracted, because he takes in Matt's physique and can't help but waste a moment thinking about what this much exercise will do to Ronan's already impressive body. He busies himself with picking up the box Ronan brought up, and hopes that Matt doesn't notice how red his cheeks have gotten.

If Matt does notice, he chooses not to say anything. "I'm going to go over and make sure the girls don't need help getting settled in. See you at dinner?"

Dinner with the team, somewhere on campus. Everyone's going, which means Adam feels like he has to as well, even though his meal card doesn't extend to the restaurants. He should be fine as long as they don't do it often. He's trying to not think about it too hard.

"Oh, I should warn you, though."

Adam stops in the doorway of the bedroom, and turns to meet Matt's eyes.

"Look, I don't know how much research you all did on us before you came here."

A notebook full of Gansey's handwriting, watching highlight reels and interviews and even digging out a few police reports.

"A little," Adam admits.

"So you knew what you were getting into. That's good." Matt stops there, and Adam thinks he might be done, but he makes no move to leave. "There's some stuff that... well, you'll meet everyone tonight. If anyone gives you any trouble, let me or Dan know right away, okay? And if anyone invites you anywhere, remember you don't have to say yes, okay?"

"...Okay." The warning seems strange, the weight Matt puts behind it feeling out of place. "Is there something I should know about?"

Matt hesitates, before shaking his head. "It should be fine. Everything's calmed down a lot since last year. Just remember we're here for you. And for the rest of the freshmen, too. Don't hesitate to ask us for help, or if you have any questions."

Matt finally leaves, and Adam goes to the task of unloading what little stuff he brought with him. He rushes through it more than he would usually, but he wants to go over some things with Gansey, Ronan, and Blue before dinner. Add Matt's weird warning to the notebook, see if any of Gansey's scrawled notes can shed any light on what it means.

It doesn't matter what he does, does it? No matter where he goes, things are never just straight forward for Adam Parrish.

And if he's being honest with himself, he's not really complaining.


	4. Gansey and Kevin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gansey can't sleep.

Gansey has been better, lately. He spends less time building miniature replicas of the places he wants to belong to. But nothing happens all at once, and with unfamiliar walls around him he finds insomnia calling his name again.

He hasn't unpacked everything yet, which means there's not cardboard with which to break ground on his newest project, and he doesn't know the shape of the campus quite well enough anyway. He grabs his phone, wanting to hear Blue's voice. But no, she's only a few steps away but she's also sharing a room with strangers, and he doesn't want to put her in an awkward position, waking them up with a knock or a ringtone when it's only their first night.

The first team meeting of the year is tomorrow, when they all officially get introduced, go over their training schedule, and have their mandatory medical check up. Ronan had already pressed an extra Epi-pen into his reluctant hands. He hadn't said anything, but Gansey knows what he's saying anyway. It's a reminder that it's something their doctor should know. Gansey isn't really looking forward to that conversation, even though he knows he hardly has anything to complain about. Ronan and Adam both have more obvious scars that will lead to uncomfortable questions. He's being silly.

Okay, that's enough, he tells himself. He stands up, grabs his keys, and heads downstairs.

He doesn't want to risk breaking down somewhere unknown, so he drives to the one place he's confident he knows the way to. The Foxhole Court. Their new home stadium. The Pig looks startlingly normal in the parking lot, the colour fitting in here. 'Coincidence,' he thinks, not for the first time. It had been his first reaction, when he heard what team was courting Ronan.

Noah had mentioned the code to the door, and Gansey knows better than to be surprised when it works. The fact that the sequence ends in 621 does not go unnoticed, either. Warning bells are ringing, but he's already got his hand on the handle. He pushes it open.

It's light inside, which strikes him as odd, at this hour.

"Hello?" Gansey calls. No answer. He continues on, passing the various doors promising equipment and cleaning supplies, the locker rooms, the den-like area with its couches and tv, the trophy from last season in a position of honour. He half-expects to see a light leaking out from underneath the door of the coach's office, but there's nothing.

The door to the court is open. Gansey smiles to himself, and with a whispered 'excelsior', he steps through and stands inside a full sized Exy stadium for the first time.

It knocks the breath from his lungs, looking up at the stands and imagining them packed with a cheering crowd. This is no daydream. This will be his reality in afew short months. It's a strange feeling, like thinking about his future often is. As overwhelmed as he is, it takes him longer than it should to notice he's not alone.

There's a lone figure in the middle of the court. They're in full gear, and Gansey can't quite make out their jersey number from here. He steps closer, watching the figure work their way through a line of balls. They moved like a machine, not a moment of hesitation as they scooped up the ball, shot, and moved on to the next one. Every shot hit the same place, top corner of the goal. Not one miss.

Gansey whistles to himself, watching the flawless form. He has a feeling he knows who this is, then. He also has his suspicions confirmed for something he's been mulling on since they got their offers from Wymack.

Gansey is not good enough to step foot on this court.

Not yet. He's got all of summer in front of him, and friends who can help. He won't be the weak link, here. He's tired of playing that role.

Kevin Day doesn't notice that he has an audience until he's finished the drill and goes to collect the balls. He stops, frozen for a moment by the unknown figure hanging by the door to the court, and then snaps himself out of it and approaches. Gansey pushes the negative thoughts from his face and slips into that easy smile he got from his mother, the one Blue hates.

Kevin shoves open the door and takes his helmet off. Gansey doesn't stare at the tattoo on the boy's cheek. He doesn't think about the pages of stats and notes he has, tucked away in the notebook on his desk. He started working on it the minute Ronan admitted the Foxes were looking at him, as meticulous in researching their new team as he is in everything he researches. He knows about the rumours of how Kevin's hand was really broken, and how even him standing here with his racket in his left hand is a triumph, proof of his strength.

Gansey sticks his hand out. "Gansey. I'm one of your rookies."

"I know," says Kevin. He doesn't look very happy at the interruption, and Gansey is about to apologize and make his leave when Kevin surprises him. "Richard Gansey the Third. I've read about you."

Gansey drops his hand. "Excuse me?"

Kevin's twisting the racket in his hands, and it almost looks like he's... nervous. That doesn't make sense. Gansey must be more tired than he originally thought.

"You're the one who found Glendower, right?"

"Oh. Yes." Almost an afterthought, really. After the dying and the coming back, amidst making apologies for absences and searching for a missing ghost boy, between confessions and redrawing the lines of relationships, he had reported his discovery. They had been featured in a few newspapers, a few journals had contacted him for interviews, and more than one of his mother's friends had sent their congratulations, their thinly veiled shock at his success less rewarding than he thought they would be. It feels like it all happened a very long time ago. To someone else, even. "Yes, that was us."

Kevin nods. "We talked about it in class. It was interesting, so I read up on it. They never mentioned any other names. I didn't make the connection until we had already made the deal."

He doesn't look at all embarrassed for referencing the deal that got Gansey here, the trade they made with Ronan, the one Gansey's not technically supposed to know about. Because it would hit hard, he supposes, to know you were only on the team because it was the only way to get Ronan to say yes. It hadn't bothered him, though. It might have irked Adam, but it was also a way for him to hold onto the money he'd worked so hard for, and it didn't quite count as charity, so he took it with only a frown and a small dent in his pride. And a determination, one that was echoed in Gansey's own eyes, and Blue's. To make sure that they worked hard enough to be worth it.

"You talked about it in class?"

"History is my major."

Gansey knew that, knew he had it scrawled in the margin of his notebook. He hadn't spared much thought to it, though. With how single minded Kevin Day seemed, he had figured it was almost irrelevant, probably chosen because it fit his schedule best. By the interest in Kevin's eyes, he needs to reevaluate that assumption.

"It was a group effort," he says honestly. "I wouldn't have found him without the rest of them."

"Sargent, Lynch, Parrish." By the way Kevin says it, Gansey thinks he probably has a notebook with all of their names in it, too. He suddenly wants to compare notes. A strange feeling.

"And one more, but he doesn't play Exy." He leaves out Noah, because even though it's much easier to see him nowadays, not everyone does. "Henry Cheng."

Kevin frowns. "Why doesn't he play?"

Gansey smiles, thinking of the name crossed out before lunchtime on the rowing team's sign up sheet. "It's not really his scene. He'll be in the stands cheering us on, though."

Kevin nods, and glances behind him. Gansey should really let him get back to practicing.

"I apologize for the interruption," he says, taking a step back. "It was good to meet you."

"We practice every night." Kevin's tone is much more firm, when he's back on the subject of what he knows best. "If you're not going to sleep, you might as well be productive. And you need the extra work."

Gansey stares at him for a moment, thrown. He's used to being the golden boy, and even in the rare event that he is told he needs to improve upon something it's gentle and courteous. Kevin is blunt and honest, which are traits Gansey has always found himself drawn to.

"I might have to take you up on that."

Kevin points the exy racket at him. "Ten. I'll knock on the door. Don't make me wait." He puts his helmet back on, blocking out any response Gansey might give, and returns to the court. Gansey closes the door behind him, and retraces his steps through the home team's rooms, back to the Pig. The ground feels solid underneath him, and he revels in it as he pulls out of the parking lot with a little more speed than is strictly safe, grin in place that has nothing in common with his politician's smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come talk to me on [tumblr!](http://hulklinging.tumblr.com)


	5. Blue and Andrew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the preseason meet and greet, and Blue gets an invitation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really not sure about this one, BUT I've been sitting on it and stressing for weeks so I'm just gonna post it. Hopefully it doesn't let y'all down!

Blue sits on one end of the couch and tries not to fidget.

Next to her, Gansey's body is tight with tension. She wants to reach out and touch him, feel him relax under her fingers, but they'd agreed to tone down anything touchy-feely while in front of their new team. Just at first. Neither of them wanted to be seen as an accessory to the other.

Blue doesn't know why she feels so nervous. She's faced down a friend being unmade in front of her, demon possession, and her mother's tea. A bunch of new teammates is nothing, compared to that. Even if some of these teammates do have connections to various mobs.

She knows Gansey could tell her exactly who has connections with exactly what criminal organization, but that's not the point.

"Remember," she whispers into Gansey's ear, the space between her lips and his ear easy to keep, remnants of the curse still imbedded in her instincts. "If any of them give us trouble, my mother's dating a hitman."

"Ex-hitman," Gansey murmurs, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a smile.

The fact that Mr. Grey would probably come out of retirement if she asked him nicely should be a sobering thought, but it really just makes Blue grin. Her mom deserves a dedicated man. Someone who wasn't about to run off and get stuck in a cave for over a decade and then turn into a tree when the going got tough.

She looks around the room, taking in their teammates as a whole for the first time. Well, not quite. They're still waiting for a few more people, and for the coach too. Perched in an armchair she's sharing with a very tall boy is their captain and Blue's new roommate, the first female captain of Class 1 Exy, Dan Wilds. She gives Blue a nod, and Blue nods back, trying not to look like she's taking notes. She wants to be able to be practically sitting in a guy's lap and still exude power like Dan does. No one approaching her would make the mistake of talking over her head.

There's a height joke there, but Blue won't give Ronan the satisfaction of even thinking it. Instead, she eyes the others in the room. The couch that mirrors theirs only has one occupant, who is doing his best to casually take up the whole thing. He's bright eyed, chuckling at something on his phone.

"Eric says hi, everyone." He glances over at their couch, and if he thinks it's weird that they've all shoved themselves onto one couch, he doesn't say anything. "Eric's my fiance. He lives in Germany."

Blue is too far away from Adam to feel some of the tension leak out of him, but she does hear Gansey's little exhale of relief. Knowing one of their teammates has a boyfriend and it seems to be common knowledge is definitely a good thing.

"Nobody cares, Nicky," says the tiny blonde boy who's leaning against one of the other couch's arms. One of the Minyard twins. No one bats an eye at his rude remark, so those must be commonplace too.

"Hello, Eric," says Gansey beside her, earning him a big grin from Nicky and a more subtle smile from Renee, who is sharing the other armchair with the last of Blue's new roommates, Allison, who is so arrestingly gorgeous that Blue has already decided she must never meet Orla. At least not while Blue is anywhere nearby.

"Oh!" That's the boy Dan is sitting with. Boyd, she thinks. "Has anyone warned them about Columbia?"

This makes Nicky sit up, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "I doubt that Andrew would wanna-"

The tiny blonde laughs. If they're talking about Andrew, that would make him Aaron. It's not a nice laugh, and he doesn't elaborate on what's so funny. Blue narrows her eyes in his direction. She's been pleasantly surprised by how easily she's gotten along with those she's met, so far. She doubts that will be the case for the whole team.

"Okay," says Dan, and leans towards them. "Andrew might invite one or more of you to go to a club in Columbia with him."

"None of us are legal." That's Adam, who's probably thinking about his scholarship. Blue doesn't blame him. She's already had a few nightmares where she does something and loses the scholarship, and she hasn't been working her whole life for this, not like Adam.

"Not relevant," says Allison, not looking up from her examination of her nails.

"If he does, just remember that you don't have to go if you're not interested. If he gives you any trouble, let me know. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Gansey answers for all of them. Quickly, probably trying to beat Ronan to a reply. Blue glances down at the other end of the couch, where Ronan is chewing on his leather bracelets and looking a thousand miles away. Or maybe just over three hundred miles, stuck somewhere between the rolling hills of the Barns and 300 Fox Way, where a little girl with hooved feet is settling in to her new home and the legion of adoptive aunts that come with it.

Blue has been too busy settling in and trying to not appear terribly co-dependent to really ask her boys how they were all settling in. She'd laid awake the night before, fingers itching to pick up her cellphone (new to her, not brand new, a graduation present she'd accepted from Gansey only because she knew it would make her mother feel better about the distance) and call Gansey, but not wanting to seem clingy.

 _You're being stupid,_ she told herself, but she still hadn't made the call. She wonders how Gansey slept, if he did at all. He looks tired, but he doesn't have that shaky energy that comes with staying up all night, so he must have slept at least a little. That's good.

She tunes back in to the conversation in time to see the face Dan makes at 'ma'am' as Boyd teases her about it. There's the sound of a door opening, and everyone sits up a little straighter, the carefree feeling in the air getting a little less so.

Three boys walk in, meaning that everyone is here. She knows the one in the front. Anyone who knows anything about Exy knows Kevin Day.She can't help but let her eyes go right to his cheek, and the chess piece he has tattooed there. His presence fills the room, enough so that she doesn't shift to look at the two behind him until they've already arranged themselves on the other couch.

Blue knows better than to stare at Neil Josten's scars. She skips them entirely, instead meeting the hazel eyes of the other Minyard. Andrew. The crazy, dangerous one. She looks at him and he looks back, his face devoid of any emotion at all.

For the first time in a long time, she wishes she had a bit of the talent that her family is known for. She wants to do a reading for him. She wants to see what cards would end up splayed out in front of him.

Maybe she'll ask Adam.

A door off to the side opens, and Coach Wymack steps out, followed by a woman with a warm smile that seems completely genuine and therefore a little out of place.

Wymack clears his throat. "Alright, Foxes. Let's talk."

Blue can tell that Gansey wishes he brought his notebook, his fingers itching to take down notes as Wymack details their plans for the season, what coming back as defending champions will look like, what practice schedules will be. Dan raises her hand and asks about potential Raven push back, after last season's upset, and Blue finds her gaze wandering back to Andrew as Wymack talks about increased security. He meets her eye again, and this time there's something other than apparent boredom in his stare, a sharp curiosity that cuts through her. She doesn't look back at him after that. She has stared into the eyes of murderers more often than most people her age, but it hasn't really taught her much. There's nothing in someone's eyes that really reveal whether or not they're a good person. What can usually be found is a bit of empathy, or warmth, or something. A lack of anything is disturbing. But Blue thinks she prefers Andrew's blank stare to this other one.

As the woman introduces herself as Abby and mentions mandatory medical checks, she makes sure to elbow Gansey, a reminder to mention his allergy. He winces, probably because Adam's elbow had found his ribs on his other side, thinking the same thing as Blue.

As they get pulled one by one into Abby's office, and their teammates disappear in twos and threes once they're done. When Abby calls Gansey in, she slides over to toss her legs over Adam and (just barely) Ronan's laps, rests her head on the armrest, and closes her eyes.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." That's Ronan, talking for the first time since this meeting started. He's got all his thorns out, by the sounds of it.

"I wasn't talking to you, Furiosa," says the unfamiliar voice. "I was talking to her."

Blue opens her eyes to see Andrew Minyard standing over her. Behind him, almost too casual in his proximity, like he's ready to jump in if needed, is Neil Josten. "Hello."

"You're coming out with us on Friday." He doesn't elaborate on who 'us' is, or who exactly he means by 'you'. Blue's making the executive decision that he means all of them, though. This sounds like what Dan and Boyd were warning them about, but they don't know what Blue's faced down, with the boys by her side. She's not afraid of Andrew Minyard.

"For what?"

A twitch of lips. "Team bonding." Behind him, Neil rolls his eyes. "Be ready by seven."

"We'll be there, then."

Andrew turns and walks away, and Josten follows him with a little shrug of 'what can you do?' Like intimidation of new teammates is normal. Is hazing still a thing? It seems very... young adult novel, to Blue, but maybe that's what this is. She definitely feels like she's supposed to be intimidated.

"Blue?" That's Gansey. "It's your turn."

She gets up to meet Gansey's fistbump, then enters the office as he offers it to the other two. She's sure they'll fill Gansey in while she's gone, which means that once she's done they can go and talk about their thoughts of their teammates in depth, and Andrew's offer in particular.

She's not worried. In fact, going out with all of them might be kind of fun. It's been a while since they've done something reckless that had normal mundane consequences and not deadly ones. It would probably be good for them.

Bring on Columbia, Blue thinks. It can't have anything on Henrietta.


	6. Columbia and Cabeswater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to grow as they make a trip to Columbia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This finishes the first arc of this fic, which is mostly Raven-centric. Up next, more of the Foxes and their point of views, as well as some actual Exy.

The first thing Blue says is "We've gotta bring Henry here."

Ronan rolls his eyes. It's too dark in the club for anyone to be able to see and tell him off for it, anyway. The club, with its levels and colour scheme, would have Cheng standing out like a sore thumb. He might have a bit of the look, but he's lacking on the attitude.

Blue is such a sap, even if she doesn't want to admit it. Not as bad as Gansey, who Ronan swears he heard sigh dreamily over a cup of water the other day, but still pretty embarrassing. Really, they have no right to make fun of him and Adam at all.

Ronan doesn't reach out and touch Adam, as much as he wants to. In these lights, he looks less real than usual, like an illusion made up of dust and dreams. He falls into step next to him and bumps him with his shoulder, and Adam shoots him a grin that makes the club a little more tolerable.

"There's usually some empty tables over here," Hemmick says, and they follow him. One of the twins is parking, same as Gansey. The other one's fucked off somewhere with Josten. Ronan doesn't really care what they do. He doesn't like how the one Minyard stares. He'll take Hemmick's appreciative wink over those blank eyes.

Gansey can sit him down and lecture him about how 'these are our teammates for the next few years at least, it's best if we get along with them all' and use buzz-phrases like 'on-court camaraderie' as many times as he likes, but it isn't going to change the fact that Ronan doesn't trust these Foxes. Not a one. He doesn't need to read the newspaper articles in Gansey's little scrapbook to know that the whole lot of them are bad news.

_We don't look like ourselves on paper either, Lynch_ , Blue had reminded him. But there's a difference between looking like some nerds because they found a lost king and being involved with the mob, or whatever.

These kids are dangerous. But that's okay. Ronan's smile catches the light, stretching it so that his face resembles a skull. So are they.

They find two abandoned tables and start to clear them off just as Short and Shorter come back with drinks. Ronan eyes them suspiciously, and stands up to go get his own, but is stopped by a body in front of him.

"They're on me tonight," says Minyard. The crazy Minyard, as opposed to the angry one. "You can sit down."

A hand on his arm pulls him back to his seat, and he goes because he knows without looking that it's Parrish's hand, and because he doesn't care if he starts a fight in public in a bar he's definitely not old enough to be in, but he doesn't want to fuck this up for Adam. He purposefully turns his back on the blonde and grabs a shot at random, throwing it back like he doesn't give a shit what's in it.

It's sweet, a little too sweet for his liking. Strong. He picks up another one and downs that too.

Minyard turns away to listen to something Josten is saying. Ronan doesn't care about what, because Adam hasn't let go of his arm. In the dark, no one glancing over could tell, but Ronan feels every inch of skin where they're touching like it's burning. It still doesn't always feel real, how easily they fell together, over a year ago now. He would do anything to keep it like this. Drinking on some asshole's dime is nothing.

 

_Ronan knows there's not going to be anything there, but he still has to see it for himself. He drives out there, racing the sun as it creeps towards the horizon. He doesn't tell anyone where he's going. He leaves his phone at home._

_He wants to do this alone._

_He spends what must be hours cursing his way through the forest. He finds nothing, not even anything that looks familiar. He knew he wouldn't, but the physical absence of Cabeswater still throws him. He feels like he's lost something, and even though he has no regrets (Gansey is worth more than a magical forest, Gansey is worth the world and then some), he still wants to curl in on himself._

_He doesn't, of course. He kicks halfheartedly at tree trunks, throws a few rocks at ponds empty of any fish, imagined or real. He finds a fallen tree and sits on it, watches the shadows grow around him. He had made no effort to mark his way, and this forest has no obligation to lead him back to his car. He probably acted a little hastily. He probably should have left a note, at least._

_He should have done a lot of things. What else is new._

_He puts the setting sun to his left and walks._

_Ronan hears it before he sees anything but trees. A voice, calling his name. Not with any particular urgency, just an odd mix of frustration and fondness that makes him smile in spite of himself._

_"I'm over here, Parrish," he calls. "You can stop yelling now."_

_"You're an idiot," is how Parrish greets him, but even in the weak glow of the flashlight Ronan can see he doesn't really mean it._

_They walk back to the cars in silence, fingers brushing._

 

"I don't drink."

Neil nods once, and doesn't push. Adam doesn't really know what he would have done if the other guy had. Leave, maybe. It's not exactly his scene.

He's not really sure if it's any of their scenes, although Blue and Gansey are making the most of it, each grabbing a drink before Gansey invited Blue to dance. In true Gansey fashion, he managed to make it sound like he was inviting her to the ballroom for a proper waltz, but Blue just laughed and pulled him out to the dance floor. Adam can't see them from where he's sitting, but he's not too worried.

For being the person who insisted they come here, Andrew had interacted very little with any of them since they'd arrived. He'd left to grab another round of drinks, followed by Kevin. Aaron and Nicky had both gone off somewhere as well, which means it's just him, Ronan, and Neil at their tables. Adam made sure to sit with his deaf ear to the wall, but he's still struggling to pick out anything aside from the pounding bass of the music and the muted murmur of indistinct conversations. That's why it takes him a moment to realize that Neil is talking to him.

"I don't really drink either."

Adam looks back at him. Tries to focus on his eyes, as much as his eyes want to trace the scars down his cheeks. He feels a sick sense of relief that his damage is a little less visible.

"Yeah?"

"Old habits, I guess." Neil shrugs, looks behind him in a twitchy way that looks more like instinct than actual interest in his surroundings.

"You've got a lot of those, huh?"

Adam frowns at Ronan, who always seems to reveal he's been actually paying attention at the worst possible moment. But Neil doesn't seem bothered by the question, obvious dig at his past though it is.

"Your small town tough boy act may have worked at your private school, but it's going to get you in trouble on the court." Neil grins. Adam watches the scars stretch. "Just make sure that when you're spitting bullshit, you aim it at the other team, okay?"

Adam stares at him and realizes that Neil is honestly excited by the idea of Ronan getting into shit on the court. Well, it makes sense. Neil was one of the people to come calling for Ronan's recruitment. Was the first one to mention bringing everyone in, even. He's only on his second year here, but he's vice captain and seems to have the respect of the whole team. He's had every dark closet in his life shoved open and burnt down, very publicly, and lived to tell the tale. Neil Josten has legends and murderers for friends, say the articles. Neil Josten probably shouldn't be allowed to play at all, argue others. But here he is, sitting in front of them, looking almost relaxed. Grinning in excitement at the idea of his team wrecking havoc on the court.

Adam lets himself move in a little closer to Ronan, because it's dark and because he doesn't care if Neil sees. He smiles back at him, slow and cautious but genuine. Ronan huffs and mutters something in Latin that sounds nicer than it actually is, but he also doesn't protest when Adam leans in so that he can hear better, as he asks Neil about what it's like, under the court's lights.

 

_Adam's favourite season had been fall for as long back as he can remember. School starting meant more to learn and less time to spend at home, and usually his father managed to have a job for at least the beginning of fall. Even though Adam knew he'd usually be laid off by Christmas and he knew he couldn't hide at school forever, he still loved seeing the leaves turn orange and fall._

_He met Gansey and Ronan in the fall, too._

_So when he was by himself in Cabeswater, he couldn't help but notice how the leaves liked to turn around him, showing off their oranges and reds and golds as they brushed past him on their way to the forest floor._

_Orange had always been a colour that meant safety, however fleeting. Like the Pig. Like fall._

 

Blue had disappeared to find the washroom, and Gansey is just considering heading back to the table himself when Nicky finds him. Nicky is clearly a few drinks ahead of Gansey, all smiles as he dances closer.The ease in Gansey's limbs that he had found so easily with Blue is all gone now, but Nicky doesn't seem to mind, just grabbing one of Gansey's hands and tugging him along to the beat.

"Are you and her dating?"

"Pardon?"

Nicky laughs, and dances even closer. "You and Sargent. We have a bet. Allison says you're definitely together, but I'm not so sure if I believe you swing that way."

This is not a conversation Gansey had prepared himself for, and he finds himself quite thrown. It must show on his face, because Nicky laughs.

"Oh, come on. You went to an all-boy's private school! You must have at least... experimented, right?"

Later, Gansey will blame the two shots, and the unfamiliar environment. Blue will sigh and roll her eyes and say she should have known better than to leave him alone in a place filled with such debauchery, teasing obvious in her voice.

Henry will join in on the teasing, but there will be a spring in his step, added excitement in his smile.

In the moment, Gansey just can't stomach the idea of denying it, of lying about such an important part of his life.

"I have a boyfriend," he says, soft and proud.

Nicky blinks, his dancing actually faltering for a moment. "Really? Ha! I was right! Which one is it? Parrish or Lynch?"

"No, neither of them. He's not here yet." Soon, though. Henry's moving in to the dorms as soon as they're open, but that's still a few weeks away. Gansey misses him. "And I have a girlfriend, too."

Said girlfriend has to step on her tiptoes to tap Nicky's shoulder, but Gansey doesn't think anyone else saw, and he won't tell. "Hi," says Blue. "Mind if I butt in?"

Gansey reaches for her, leans in to capture her lips in a kiss, because even after a year it still feels exciting to be able to touch like this. He sees Nicky's face shift from confused to shocked to laughing again, and is surprised by how at ease he feels here, in this strange club in this new town.

Well, his partners have always made him brave.

 

_He knows there's nothing there anymore, but when he voices that they should still say goodbye, neither of them protest. Blue drives, Henry picks the music, and they sing along to every song they know and most of the songs they don't, too. Compared to their drives last summer, zigzagging back and forth across the country like some strange Etch-A-Sketch doodle, this one is almost too short. Just a quick jaunt up to a forest that used to house something magical._

_No one gets out of the car, once they've parked. They all take a moment just to reflect, maybe. Gansey thinks about all Cabeswater used to represent, the excitement they felt pulling up here for the first time. Hopefully they can find something similar to that at Palmetto State. Something new, undiscovered._

_Blue reaches over to grab Gansey's hand, and Henry leans forward and clasps their spare hands with his own, and no one says anything but it feels like something important. Like something special._

_"Better in threes," Gansey whispers, like some kind of prayer._

_Blue tugs at both of them. "Come on. Let's go say goodbye."_

 

Blue finds the bathroom no problem. It's once she's heading back to the dance floor that she runs into trouble.

Twin number one finds her first. Aaron, with his scowl and crossed arms. He doesn't look like he meant to run into her, but still musters up some annoyance to direct her way.

"I don't trust you," he says.

"Okay," Blue responds. She's not sure what else she can say. She's definitely not gonna waste her time arguing over her trustworthiness with some drunk guy she hardly knows and doesn't really like at a bar. "I don't care."

"A lot of shit went down last year."

"Again, don't care."

That's not true. She's so curious about the details that never make it to print, about what it was like on the ground here, last year. But again. This isn't the place to have that conversation.

"We've earned a year without trouble."

"I think you're going to get enough trouble from Raven fans without us supplying any." Blue wonders how often Aaron refers to the team as 'we'. Or maybe he just means a select few. The ones here tonight. His family.

Aaron makes a face at her mention of the Ravens, but he doesn't say anything else, or move to stop her when she brushes past him. She revels in the fact that they're the same height. She enjoys not having to look up as she argues with someone, she's not going to lie.

Minyard number two is at the table when she approaches it to grab another drink for her and Gansey. He's the only one there, which means Ronan and Adam have probably snuck off somewhere.

"Your twin already gave me a talking to," she tells him, because he looks like he's going to say something. The comment honestly seems to surprise him, because he tilts his head and looks at her with eyes that are actually focused. He's totally sober, she realizes. She wonders if that's the usual, or if it's in honour of them.

"Did he? That's funny. What did he say?"

"Told me not to cause trouble."

"Do you usually cause trouble?"

Blue snorts. "He would have been better off giving Ronan the warning." Although she's glad he didn't. That has the potential to end in blows.

Andrew nods, and Blue can't tell if he's smiling or if it's a trick of the light.

"Why did you all come here?"

Blue picks up a shot, but doesn't drink it just yet. It's bright blue, which strikes her as funny. It should probably be her last one of the night. Her reward for finishing this conversation.

"Wymack offered us scholarships. Adam and I don't have huge trust funds, so it was this or a lifetime of student debt." Not that Andrew understands that, judging by his own ride.

"And the Exy?"

Blue thinks about how powerful she feels, with the racket in her hands. No magic, just her and the court and the opponent between her and the goal. She doesn't say anything right away, trying to find a way to put that feeling into words, but Andrew cuts her off anyway.

"You look like I just asked you about your high school sweetheart. It figures that you'd be as bad as the others."

"What? Actually like the sport I signed up to play for five years?"

Andrew hums. "Yeah. Actually liking something. The nerve of it all."

This conversation is weird. This night is weird. Blue takes her shot, grabs another of the same for Gansey, and turns away.

"It's your job to keep them all safe," Andrew says, loud enough for her to still here him. She turns back towards him, one eyebrow up in a move she totally didn't steal from Orla. She hopes it looks as devastatingly unimpressed on her as it does on her cousin.

"If that was a threat, it wasn't a good one."

"I'm just saying that my hands are full already. I don't care enough to watch over all of you as well."

"We don't need your help anyway."

Andrew doesn't say anything, just shrugs. She turns to go find Gansey, to kiss away the part of her that is unnerved by the conversation. Andrew thinks he's got them all read so well. That's fine. That's nothing they haven't come across before, people judging them by their assorted covers. Blue's sure it will go just as well for him as it did for Whelk, or the Greenmantles.

They've fought hard for this, defied death and rewrote their own stories. They've earned this. The classic American college experience. It starts right here.

For now, at the very least, fate's got nothing on them.

 

_Somewhere between their old lives and their new, a forest begins to grow._


	7. Kevin and Henry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone comes to visit, and Kevin evaluates how far their rookies have come, and what they still need to learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be in Dan's point of view, but Kevin decided to take over. Also, two chapters in a row where they're drinking... in my defense, there's a lot of drinking in the original series.
> 
> There will be actual Exy in the next chapter, I promise.

Kevin has a way of focusing that blocks the rest of the world out.

So really the fact that he doesn't see the boy hanging around the door to Fox Tower until he almost bowls him over is honestly pretty understandable. He looks up from his phone with a list of possible plays to work on at next practice at the last moment, and has to do some quick footwork to avoid hitting the boy in front of him.

The guy turns in surprise and for a split second all Kevin can think is _Riko Moriyamas danger danger_ before he takes the boy's face in properly and sees that he looks nothing like Riko, or anyone the Moriyamas have working for them, either.

"Hey!" The stranger's face splits into a big smile. His hair is spiked up, making him look almost as tall as Kevin, but he doesn't have the bulk of an athlete. Kevin tries to slow his breathing, not wanting the creeping panic to have time to properly set in. Moriyama or not, this is a face he's never seen around here before. The other athletic teams have started to move in, but if he were one of them he wouldn't be lingering by the door.

"I know you," says the stranger. "Big queen on campus. I'm Henry Cheng."

Kevin takes the offered hand and shakes it, feeling like he's still trying to catch up. That name sounds familiar. Not familiar in the way where he maybe read it on an Exy roster, but something similar...

"You know Gansey."

Henry's smile gets even bigger. "Smart and talented. What a treat. Yeah, he's not answering his phone. In his defence, he thinks I'm coming next week."

Kevin frowns. "He needs to focus. He has a lot to catch up on."

"Don't worry, Golden Boy, I promise I am not here to distract him from the great and honourable sport of stickball. Well, not much. And I have a special talent for helping him focus, too. So I'm sure it will all balance out."

Kevin eyes him, decides that even if this Henry is lying, he's not physically intimidating enough to take on any of the Foxes anyway, and reaches past him to open the door.

There's a noise from Cheng that sounds like a literal buzz of excitement, as he follows Kevin inside. Once in the elevator, Kevin's thoughts shift from _he better not be here to cause trouble_ to _he better not try to talk to me again._ He shudders at the thought of this guy and Nicky meeting. Although no one else in the room would have to work to carry on a conversation, that's for sure.

The elevator opens before Cheng's mouth does, and Kevin quickly moves towards the Exy team's rooms. He nods his head at Gansey and Lynch's room, although he should at least stay long enough to make sure Cheng was telling the truth about who he is.

"That's his dorm."

The door behind them opens, and Matt pokes his head out. "Oh, Kevin. You're back." He eyes Henry with cautious curiosity, and steps fully out of his dorm, conveniently showing off how he towered over the unknown factor. "Hey."

"Hello! I'm sorry, I left my cheatsheet of who all of you were in the car, so you'll have to let me know what your name is. I'm Henry, I'm a friend of the Henrietta variety."

Matt blinks, and Kevin can see the moment he lets some of the tension bleed out of his shoulders. "Oh, okay. I'm Matt. Lynch and Parrish are actually in here, because-"

Henry knocks on the dorm door.

Matt laughs, although there's a blush spreading over his dark cheeks. "Gansey and Sargent actually kicked Lynch out for a bit, so you're probably better off waiting in here until they're, you know, done."

"Is that Cheng?" Lynch shouts from somewhere inside Matt, Parrish, and Aaron's apartment. "Don't bother, Boyd."

There are footsteps on the other side of the dorm door in question, and Blue Sargent's annoyed voice. "Who is it?"

"Your third wheel!" Henry replies with a wink at Kevin. Kevin is beginning to think he should have just left the boy outside.

The door opens, and Kevin quickly looks back at Matt, because Blue doesn't have much more on than a bra and panties and this whole situation has gotten away from him very quickly.

"Miss me, Little Miss Sunshine?"

Blue just laughs, and then there's the sound of the door slamming shut again. There is a lack of strangers in the hallway now, and Kevin is suddenly exhausted.

Matt looks equally off kilter. "So," he says, turning to Kevin. "We're drinking and playing video games, if you want to join."

Lynch's laughter, when he sees their faces, is loud and a little bit cruel. Parrish just rolls his eyes at him. Neither of them offer any explanation, or look at all surprised by how that went down. Neither does Nicky, of all people, who looks positively gleeful that he knew something before the rest of them.

"He drunkenly confided in me in Columbia," Nicky explains. "So you all owe me and Allison money."

"If he has a girlfriend, he's not gay."

"Ah!" Nicky raises his hand, the one holding his mixed drink. "But I didn't bet that he was gay. I bet that he was not straight."

"Do you always bet on people's sexualities?" Parrish wants to know. Parrish is thoughtful on the court, making him slower than Kevin would like, but he's already shown to be a quick study, and Kevin has a feeling that as soon as he gets more familiar with the team dynamics, he'll start to be able to hold his own on a Class A team. He's not drinking, Kevin notices. He spares half a thought at what skeletons Parrish has got in his closet. So far, the only one that seems to fit his father's mandate of coming from something broken is Lynch, and Kevin only knows that by the scars on the guy's arms. Whatever it is, it can't possibly be as dangerous as the shit Neil dragged in with him last year, but it still makes Kevin tense.

Vodka will fix that, at least temporarily.

Allison, who had arrived somewhere between Kevin getting there and Aaron losing his third round of Mario Kart in a row, shrugs off Parrish's concern.

"We bet on everything. It's a bonding ritual, at this point."

Lynch's smile is predatory. "Got any money on me?" It's this predatory feeling that had originally made Kevin want him for the Foxes. He watched a clip of Lynch play and could already see how he'd fit on the court, how his play would mesh with Matt's and Aaron's and Nicky's. He didn't care that Lynch hadn't been playing for as long as most of the people they were looking at. The tapes were enough to convince him. And a few weeks into practices, he is by far their strongest rookie. Dangerous and strong.

Dan chuckles from where she's sitting next to Matt. They're armwrestling, which should be comical except they've each won once already. "I'm pretty sure someone's got money on everyone." Dan must have come with Allison and Renee. Aside from Gansey and Sargent, only Andrew and Neil are missing.

Lynch takes another long sip of his beer. "Ten bucks says Cheng cries the first time the maggot or Gansey gets playing time."

This earns him an elbow from Parrish.

"Which will never happen, if he ends up being a distraction," Kevin mutters.

"Kevin," Renee says, and he hadn't even realized she's sitting next to him now. "That will carry a lot more weight if you say it again when you're not nursing your own bottle of vodka."

The problem with Renee is she always smiled when she said stuff like that, so he couldn't even be mad at her for it.

"Whatever. Practice is still at ten am tomorrow."

The chorus of groans and boos almost drowns out the knock on the door.

Matt gets up to answer it, probably to avoid losing another match to his girlfriend. He returns with Sargent, Gansey, and Cheng in tow. They're all holding hands, which makes Nicky coo but which Kevin thinks is overkill.

Sargent talks first.

"This is Henry Cheng. He's our boyfriend." Between the vodka and the scar over her eye catching the light, Kevin finds himself a little bit intimidated. That's a good sign. She's been good in practices, but if she can channel this attitude into her game, she might actually start winning some challenges. "We weren't planning on doing it like this, but we just don't want any misunderstandings." A beat, and her chin comes up, like she's expecting a fight.

Dan passes Allison some money. Aaron groans and does the same.

"Kevin says he doesn't care who you're fucking as long as it doesn't slow down your game," Matt informs them, which is not at all what Kevin said. He scowls at his backliner.

Cheng laughs. "That's basically what he said to me, too."

Kevin sinks deeper into his chair. He just wants to play Exy. He didn't ask to be ridiculed like this.

While Sargent and Cheng follow Nicky into the kitchen so he can set them up with some drinks of their own, Gansey heads towards Kevin. He stops in front of him and offers him a solemn fist bump.

"Don't worry. Henry won't distract either of us. I promise."

Kevin can feel his cheeks heating, to his horror. There's just something so genuine and serious in Gansey's tone, like he's taking Kevin's concerns seriously. He was easily the weakest player of them all. Not because of his athleticism. He's certainly the most traditionally athletic of the Henrietta group. But he lacked the punch that an Exy player needs. The aggression, the fire. But Kevin's seen glimpses of something else, in their nighttime sessions. There's fire there, for sure. Frustration, as Kevin and Neil run circles around him and Andrew stops every shot with ease. But there's also this. This weird sort of power he has that makes even Kevin want to stop and listen to him.

Kevin fistbumps him.

There might be some hope for his rookies yet.


End file.
